


I'm Sorry I Wasn't There

by kickassfu



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, What-If, angst with fluff, to soothe Karen Page, what if Frank Castle showed up in daredevil s03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 22:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16416785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kickassfu/pseuds/kickassfu
Summary: Set after episode 7 of daredevil s03, what if Frank Castle showed up to comfort Karen?





	I'm Sorry I Wasn't There

**Author's Note:**

> It's nothing special, but my heart needed this.

_ It was hard. _

 

Well, that might have been the understatement of the century;  _ everything was breaking apart, disintegrating at the tip of her ice cold fingers _ . 

 

Once again she’d ruined everything, once again someone had died because of her - good people, far better than her. 

 

Her hands were stained with blood, they had been for years now, but that deep dark red stain was impossible to clean; there was no way she could ever make amends for her mistakes, and the memories will forever tear her apart, body and soul.

 

Even as she tried, everything kept spiraling down harder and faster. Protecting someone she cared for,  _ protecting his secret _ , had cost her her job - the job she so loved and enjoyed, gave her a bit of life and fight. 

 

Karen wasn’t sure why she had dialed the number, why she had called her father and asked for understanding, for a steady hand to keep her safe. She knew deep down she would be met with quiet disdain and a closed door, and once again her broken heart laid on the floor shattered beyond repair.

 

Matt was different now, colder, and Karen still couldn’t forgive him...and Foggy was wonderful, a friend she could rely on, but he couldn’t mend her bleeding wounds for his existence was clean unlike hers. Crying, destroyed, she thought of  _ him _ , that maybe he’d understand and that he wouldn’t judge her -  _ he never did _ \- but she couldn’t exactly call him, wasn’t sure where he was. She had half a mind to put the flowers on her windowsill, but decided against it, there was no point to it…

Unlocking the door to her apartment she walked in, exhausted from  _ everything _ , for a second she wondered if she was hallucinating, and was slightly pissed he would just waltz in like that - it’s not she had given him a key or anything, he was lucky she didn’t have her gun.

 

Frank looked unsure of what to say, or if he should say anything at all, but his eyes looked worried and reassuring at the same time, and Karen broke down in front of him, because he was there, he was always there when she needed him, and maybe he had superpowers too because how did he know? 

 

Walking towards her, he closed the door and grabbed her face gently, “Are you hurt? Did he  _ hurt _ you? I’m sorry I wasn’t there, I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you.”

 

That absolute tenderness in his voice hit her deep beneath her skin, and she wanted to hold on to him for fear of drowning, but she didn’t, she just put her hands on his chest to feel him close, to feel his heartbeat. “I’m fine...”

 

_ You don’t look fine _ , she could almost hear his face say, but he was quiet,  _ patient, _ waiting for her to unravel.

 

“Maybe, I’m not-I’m, I think I’m breaking and I can’t stop it from happening anymore. Everything I touch turns to shit, and I’m just so very tired.”

 

This time Frank hugged her, tight and close, as if saying he’d keep her from falling apart no matter what, sweeping her off her feet he carried Karen to bed, “You need to rest. Don’t worry, I won’t leave, I’ll be here.”

 

He sat next to her, their hands intertwined as if to say he couldn’t leave without her waking up -  _ he wouldn’t leave _ .

 

“You’re not a bad person Karen, your mistakes don’t define you, and I know how hard that is to believe in, but eventually we both need to understand that. Those people didn’t die because of you, they died because of Fisk. You were brave and then shit happened, do not let that scumbag make you doubt yourself for one second.  _ You did good _ .”

 

She didn’t feel like it, she didn’t quite agree with his words at all, but the way Frank talked somehow gave her hope that maybe, her hands wouldn’t stay dirty forever.

 

Without realizing she felt  _ safe _ , safe enough to fall asleep without worries - finally what had been missing was back.

 

Frank Castle would burn the world down to protect her.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also kickassfu on tumblr~~


End file.
